Anyone remember this? About twenty years ago, on the way to GG, at the point on the track from Clapham where the path swings away from the wall, there is a low rock outcrop, which then had a downward sloping, narrowish entrance to a pothole, with a steel girder over. Returning to this on the way up to the winch meet in the last couple of weeks, it's now been filled in. Asking around, have been told it might have been a Manchester Uni.dig. Anyone know what happened? How far it went & why it was abandoned? I'd be interested to know the details......

Interesting, I don't know anything of it's origins, but I've a feeling that if you mean near the boggy flat section, I thought it was an attempt to connect to the end of Far East Passage?

I also feel it was filled in as it was a bit of a risk being so close to the path.

It's a very old dig - dating back to at least the 1960s. It takes water, and I rather rashly assumed that it would be associated with the aven at the end of South East Passage.

ha I can't even blame autocorrect for that!

Yes pretty much above the aven at the end of South East passage GG.
A massive amount of banging was also done up the aven ,but to no avail.
The amount of bang wire was like a spiders web.Removed loads and buried
it in the mud.

braveduck said:

The amount of bang wire was like a spiders web.Removed loads and buried it in the mud.

Click to expand...

Four or five years ago we filled a rope bag with the stuff and brought it out.

Gentlemen, many thanks for the information. Now understanding some of the history of the dig there. Strange how circumstances change over the years. When I first walked past this I was a climber. 20 years on now fully committed to the dark side, caving & digging, and enjoying every minute. Always remembered looking down the hole & thinking perhaps I need to make the switch.......

I think this is the dig some Red Rose members nearly BBQed themselves in the 1980's. Two went down the shaft to boulders at the bottom and using paper, coal and petrol intended to start a fire to try to crack the rocks with water when it got hot
The one nearest had a carbide light and the flashback up the shaft was rather spectacular!

Third person on the surface managed to jump out of the way as a ball of flame came out of the hole. The one half way down the shaft had singed hair and eyebrows. The clown at the bottom with the carbide had facial and wrist burns. His gloves were a bit short! Spent some time in hospital, where he met his wife. Turned up to Red Rose dinner where he got a lot of stick.

Okay I know this post is well into the history books, however. as the one who spent two weeks in hospital following the "incident" I thought it may be apropriate to at least lay out the history of the dig for anyone who actually cares.

The dig was identified on an Eccles Caving Club monthly club trip to main chamber. It was January and the depression was completely covered with a snow bank the top of which had two small holes emitting a mini tornado strength draft. Plans and permissions sought to return and dig it. Hopes were that hprizontal development could be found on the way to a probable link somewhere around SE passage or even Hall of the Mountain King. So it was that Eccles started the dig in the late seventies and progressed over a few years to 25' depth with the path side debris being shuttered all the way. The offending 3' long wedge shaped rock blocked progress and yes Roman tech was emplyed to try to break it down. Our only access to explosives was via Eddy the bang in Bolton who unfortunately was out of supplies. Eddy later starapped 4 full sticks of bang around his waste and ended it all in his garden in front of his wife. RIP Eddy.

Anyway Andy above nearly had it right. Having doused the wood and coal around the block with petrol we knew it was prudent to climb back up the shaft, I was 1/2 way up and proposed to light some paper and thow it down. Well all I saw was this blue ball of flame erupt around my clipper lighter and boom. Paul who was above me got an ear burnt and singed. Dave looking down the shaft from the top was blown onto his back and temporarily blinded. One important anecdote about the whole episode is that the two people above me in the shaft both had 1st class honours degrees in....... Mining Engineering. Yeah I know there is at least two ways to look at that fact.

Paul and I joined the Red Rose circa 1978 thus the overlap and the incident happened on New Years Day in 1982 and that was the last time any of us went back to the dig. There you have it. Blowing a gale dig with loadsa potential! chortle chortle.

PS the dig was christened hotpot at least to all who had helped along the way

I've always wondered about that girder over the years with walks up to Inglebrough, now I know.